LUXOR: Hassle Capital Lives up to its Name

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There was one place in Egypt that could convince us to leave Egypt early - and that was one of the historical prizes of this amazing country.

Arriving after an overnight "First Class" train with seats that barely reclined, we were struggling to navigate to our hostel - partly due to fatigue, daylight, the poor map, and the incomprehensibly laid out town. But mostly because we were being hounded by touts the second we stepped foot off the train. Easily brushing past the amateurs in the train station, we hit the real opposition on the streets. Being followed and harangued about this hotel or that, and all manner of trivial conversation carriers, we made a break to lose ourselves in the backstreets. And there we found the real Egyptians. An elderly couple sitting on their front door burning cardboard to drive off the early morning winter chill. Children starting their day with enthusiasm and brimming with energy. And their welcomes (to us overloaded and harried newcomers) to their country which were absolutely genuine compared to the 'welcome' from the hounds of Luxor.

And after a solid morning sleeping, we were ready to start exploring this unattractive hound hole ... so why were we there? A mere 3500 years ago, the new line of Kings of old decided a capital 600kms down the Nile was a nice spot, and departed the massive pyramids of of their predecessors in what is now Cairo, and set up governmental shop. Names like Nefertari, Ramses, and Tutankhamun.

Immortality is a curious concept. Given the Kings (or Queens, aka 'King's Mothers'!) affiliation with divinity, they were perfectly equipped to inadvertantly attract people to view and pillage their mortal offerings - which started only decades after their mummification, and continues today. And after 3500 years of tourism, the locals have practiced to perfection the arts of extracting money (and other gratifications) from these transients.

Whilst visiting the best of Egyptian history in the most amazingly massive temples of Luxor and Karnak built alongside the river Nile, the 'attendants' took every opportunity to entice (especially) women off into various interesting corners to point out any feature they deem worthy of baksheesh (money). And any opportunity to touch the women is eagerly taken up. So Arlene was self-shackled to Benj's side, tortured by the painfully slow pace he takes these things in at. And for she who loves her freedom, it was not forthcoming.

To avoid the minefield of dealing with unknown locals to purchase tours and boat rides, we went though our hotel who we trusted more. Their margin is nothing on the opportunistic scammers found outside... and we had the blissful experience of boarding a bus and falucca (sail boat) to enjoy the best of Luxor's West Bank Tombs, and the Nile sunset, free of harassment - briefly.

Carrying on with the photo-less policies of elsewhere in touristed Egypt, the tombs were a chance to stare wide-eyed at exquisite 3500 year old painted stone work, and to be a fly on the wall as a fellow tourist incurred the wrath, fine, and photo deletion for sneaking out his camera and failing to be subtle enough. In fact, they were more militant about photos than tourists sticking their grubby hands on hieroglyphs with their precarious coating of ancient paint. It likely has something to do with the valuable yearly sale of photographic rights to each site.

Being stalked through the streets over a period of two days by individuals intent on extracting something from us, we hit some very determined and sometimes sophisticated hustlers.

So Luxor taught us a few lessons - Tourism has an ugly side, which entirely denigrates the morality of many who are attracted to squeezing out their piece of the dirty action. It is no better seen here where tourism has been so well established for so long. In hindsight, Luxor is the destination to attack hard and fast, with spare money to afford good tours/guides, and get out before your view of Egypt is tarnished. This from travellers who spent too long (4 days) and had a tiny budget to throw around. And we (especially Benj) learned that manners don't get you anywhere on the streets. Unfortunately to our detriment. Goodbye Luxor.

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Photos

Old meets new
Lighting does some really great things with these old classics.

Luxor Temple
With a nightline like this, Luxor temple was a wonderful sight.

Grubby fingers
Guards and tourists alike contribute to this... age old hieroglyphics greased up.

Rehydration
OK, we wouldn't risk it.

Workplace
The west bank of the Nile was a workplace for many people

Duck
This is the closest Benj has been to a duck for a very long time...

The glamorous face of tourism: "Im just a Gigolo".
These Feluccas are a perfectly nice outing for the clients of these charming gents. According to our captain, this is a possible financial route to owning your own boat or taxi.

Felucca
How could you spend a nicer few hours in the balmy afternoon - even in mid winter.

The other side of package tourism
These floating bricks number 300 on this river. After the Sept 11 attacks, Egyptian tourism dived and has still not recovered. These monstrosities are moored up for longer than they would like...

And the other side
Each arse of these babies is filthy with belching black diesel soot. Nice.

Like Father, Like Son
With the downturn in tourism, this first mate may break the family tradition of sailing people up and down this wonderful waterway, as his father and grandfather have done.

Tea time
A tradition centuries old...

Guarding things
After the massacre of 1997, where terrorist gunmen systematically murdered 63 people over 45 minutes, these guards cruise around providing a remarkably miminal amount of reassurance...

2500 year old paintwork
Definitely not Dulux.

Cornered
The right corner of the temple has had careful repairs to remove evidence of the bullet holes. Only two flowers remain, dried by the desert air.

Vengeful
This is what happens when you have a gripe against your dead aunt and step mother - keeping it all in the family. Tuthmoses III was suspected of this defacement.